Obesity in France: The Numbers, the Costs, and What’s Changing

Obesity rates in France: current and projected

France is often associated with a food culture built on moderation and pleasure, but the obesity trend is moving in the wrong direction. Recent estimates for adults place obesity at around 17% to 17.4% in 2020. 

One caution before using forecasts: the “28% by 2025” projection you noted is not something I could verify in publicly accessible sources. It also sits far above other recent summaries, such as OECD reporting an adult obesity rate of 15% in 2022. If you want to keep the 28% number, it is worth double-checking the Statista chart definition and underlying dataset so the metric is consistent. 

Children and adolescents

The claim that obesity in French children and adolescents quadrupled between 1990 and 2020 appears to be a global statement in the source you referenced, not France-specific. Global health reporting does describe childhood and adolescent obesity as having quadrupled since 1990. 

For France specifically, published research describes an increase in childhood overweight and obesity toward the end of the 1990s, followed by stabilisation since the 2000s, with persistent social inequalities. If you want the blog to stay strictly France-focused, I recommend reframing this section around that pattern rather than using the global “quadrupled” figure. 

Economic impact

The financial burden is already substantial. The World Obesity Federation’s modelling estimates that overweight and obesity cost France about $50.5 billion in 2019, around 1.9% of GDP. If current trends continue, that total is projected to rise to $132.57 billion by 2060, around 2.4% of GDP. 

What’s driving the rise

Several forces reinforce each other: more ultra-processed foods, more sugary products, and more sedentary routines. Alongside this, cardiovascular health indicators suggest the protective story people associate with the “French paradox” is under pressure. Reporting tied to French public health data has put “ideal” cardiovascular health at roughly one in ten people in France, with smoking and other risk factors playing a role. 

The global backdrop

France’s trend sits inside a much bigger global shift. A large analysis reported in 2025 warned that, without stronger prevention, nearly 60% of adults and about one-third of children worldwide could be overweight or obese by 2050. 

Policy responses in France

France has used taxation as one lever, starting with a sugary drinks tax and later adjustments. More recently, proposals to extend or reshape sugar-related taxes have triggered political debate, highlighting how difficult it is to balance public health goals with economic and cultural concerns. 

Pharmaceutical options are also becoming more visible. Wegovy was launched in France in October 2024, available by prescription and not reimbursed at launch, which raised concerns about unequal access. 

Conclusion

Obesity in France is now a mainstream health and economic issue. The numbers point to a growing burden, and the responses are widening from education and taxation to medical treatment. The public health goal is straightforward: reduce risk, improve access to effective support, and prevent the costs, both human and financial, from compounding over the next decades.